Leeds Festival 2023 highlights include The Killers, Yard Act, Billie Eilish, Wet Leg and Sam Fender

As dancers sway in an arty fashion behind him in between mannequins, the charismatic lead singer in a casual red shirt whose band’s debut album The Overload hit number two last year says he first came to Leeds Festival as a teenager around 2006 and it felt amazing to now be performing on the main stage.

A far better front man fronting an even better band than 12 months ago when this reviewer last saw Yard Act, the laconic Smith’s heartfelt tribute sums up a cracking weekend of live music of all styles amid the grassy expanse of Bramham Park.

Both Smith and Yard Act’s co-founder Ryan Needham have a true Leeds indie scene pedigree, having been members of two highly-regarded live acts from the city – Post War Glamour Girls and Menace Beach.

But they’re not the only sign that Leeds Festival’s indie rock roots still cling on despite a much-changed musical landscape these days.

Earlier on Saturday, The Murder Capital from Dublin provide dark thrills on the BBC Radio 1 Dance Stage, open-neck, white-shirted lead singer James McGovern throwing aside the band’s introspection to sing from within the crowd.

Wet Leg butter everyone’s muffin on the main stage when they’re playing their biggest indie rock songs, such as Chaise Lounge.

Rising stars The Last Dinners hit a high with their stirring Kate Bush-eque single Nothing Matters.

But Leeds Festival now belongs to acts with broader brush strokes built on emotion not irony, nuance or subtlety – The Killers, The 1975, Billie Eilish, Becky Hill, Imagine Dragons, Sea Girls and Sam Fender.

The latter goes down an absolute to storm to a sea of fans, many sporting the black and white of Fender’s home team Newcastle Utd.

In this reviewer’s opinion the big-hearted songs of the ‘Geordie Springsteen’ come across best with a sense of intensity rather than a celebration but the vast crowd see it differently.